Agree to disagree, mostly. To your second point, legally speaking yes, but the industry as a whole delayed projects, and theme parks weren’t the only industry to do so.
Hindsight is 20/20 though, but remember that there was a time when there was no idea if it would even be possible to return to vacations, and from a business perspective I totally understand pausing/delaying everything as they were bleeding through cash. Now that doesn’t justify the level of delay for projects like TRON and the Festival Center, and it certainly left money on the table, but it’s sort of ingenuous to think projects weren’t going to be massively impacted while the parks remained shuttered or at bare bones capacity.
Hummmmm. IDK.... Universal, were they not in a place where they could have also been bleeding money too. Maybe they were positioned better financially for the pandemic but nonetheless instead of pulling back on projects they paused and then Hit the gas pedal.
I used to think that part of the problem Disney was dealing with was finding enough construction companies to build the projects. But the speed and quickness in which epic universe is being built puts that theory to rest. Plenty of construction crews were available.
Disney chose to save money now rather than invest now, taking advantage of lower construction costs. Then once Disney finally did start ramping back up, Construction costs soared. Anticipation continue to build and then finally 5 years of anticipation, and Tron just could not deliver.
Sadly I don't think Disney will have anything to counter Epic universe in 2025 or 2026. Barring dusting off the main Street electrical parade, again, Even if they start a major attraction the molasses pace on which they insist on building things would ensure it wouldn't open for at least 2 or 3 years which places it solidly in late 26 or early '27. And that's being optimistic.
So the only thing they can do is announce a big project while Universal is opening a big project. Which is what I think they will do. And as long as I'm being a negative Nancy here, or is it more of a realistic Ralph, like Galaxy's edge, this new project (probably beyond Big thunder ) will be overpromised and under delivered and opened in phases, because it's cheaper to do so, but then they lose lose shock and awe value.
Imagine if Galaxy's edge had opened with both smugglers run and rise of the resistance And at least some of the the promised streetmosphere. I mean honestly how much would it have cost a multi-billion dollar theme park company to run March of the First Order IN Galaxy's edge, And have a couple ewoks, perhaps a bounty hunter, and droids roaming around the place?
Instead they chose to slow open Galaxy's edge and truly lost any advantage they might have had by rolling it all out at once the way they had sold it when they announced it. Today's Walt Disney company sadly isn't willing to invest in the guest experience like it used to. It isn't willing to spend the money to be number one. Good enough is good enough. As Rizzo the rat would say, they're tourists, what do they know.
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